A persnickty approach to life sparked by chlorine intoxication, saddle sores, & the solitude of a long run

A First of Sorts…

Tomorrow was supposed to be my last race of the season, but it is not to be.

No real surprise, but I’m still a bit disappointed. I raced the Santa Rosa Tri last year so I really wanted to use it, this year, to measure year over year progress.

Seeing how I have yet to log any considerable pain-free mile since March, I decided a few weeks ago that participating was really pointless.

And I was REALLY, REALLY tired of racing injured and hurting, only to be frustrated with the end result.

So now a new experience….

My 1st DNS!!!!

And hopefully my last! 😉

My hip and glute are feeling closer to normal with each day. I’ve been able to return to running and cycling. While I finally don’t hurt DURING activity, I do tighten up quite a bit after all is said and done. A lot of tissue work is still being performed to keep things loose and mobile.

Hate to hear about the DNS but I can relate. Last year I started running to assist in my weightloss. After finishing Couch to 5k I discovered I loved running and registers for the inaugural Rock and Roll Savannah Half Marathon. I found a training program and trained through the summer. The race was in November and at the end of Septembef me and the family went camping. That Saturday morning I got up early for a planned 10 mile run. While out I realized I was having a great time and decided to stretch it out longer all was going well till on my return trip about 2 miles from the campsite(mile 11) it felt like somebody stabbed me in my knee. I tried to run through it, I tried massaging it. Nothing worked so I hobbled the last 2 miles to the campsite. After that I decided I must have a stress fracture and gave myself some rest. After a week or two I tried running again and BAM at 2 mile unbearable pain. Finally on October I made an appointment to see a PT. he looked it over and suggested more rest. At this point I realized I wouldn’t be running the half marathon. I continued to rest until january( 4 long months) and then started back running short distances. To my surprise no pain. Well until my first 5k of the year. Halfway through the race my pain came back(I still somehow managed to PR that race). I finally decided to see my Dr. He sent me to a specialist who prescribed physical therapy. After 3 months I’m good as new but am so much more of what my body is telling me

All that being said I learned one big lesson. Listen to your body and stop before you cause real damage or make things worse. As bad as it feels you were right to not race. It will give you that additional time to rest and in the long term will make you a better stronger wiser athlete. Hope the recovery continues and you have a great race season next year